Indian Day celebration to honor tribe

Visiting tribal Chief Billy Nicholas of Indian Township honors the great spirit with a peace pipe at the 43rd annual Sipayik Indian Day Celebration held at Pleasant Point on Sunday. (Bangor Daily News/Diana Graettinger)

PLEASANT POINT, Maine — The 45th annual Sipayik Indian Day Celebration — a time for the Passamaquoddy Tribe to honor its past, present and future — will be held Thursday, Aug. 5, to Monday, Aug. 9, on the reservation.

It will be marked by special ceremonies, sweat lodges, canoe races, a horseshoe tournament, children’s games, a health fair and fireworks.

Vendors offering Passamaquoddy arts such as baskets, carvings, beadwork and leather products will gather at the Kcipeskiyak ball field, which is one mile on Route 190 from the intersection with Route 1 in Perry.

The festival is being held to honor four Passamaquoddy women and one man this year.

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They are the late Elizabeth LaCoute, a midwife and healer; Barbara Paul, teacher of The Little Eagles, a native drumming and singing group; Marry Sappier-George, the director of the Emergency Medical Services at Pleasant Point; Kelly Keezer, the youth honoree who is fighting a life-threatening disease; and Philip “Mike” Farrell Sr., founder of the Passamaquoddy Veterans of Foreign Wars post.

Thursday’s events begin at 7:30 a.m. with a morning prayer for warrior canoeists at Indian Township bridge. Canoeists then will leave for the 12th annual canoe trip. The first leg of the trip will take them to Devils Head in Calais. They will continue their paddle from Devils Head and arrive at Split Rock on the reservation at Pleasant Point about 1 p.m. Saturday.

Friday’s events include a health fair, a blood drive, Wapanahki Museum tours and a pageant.

On Saturday, vendor booths will open at 8 a.m. There will also be a health walk, children’s games, Little Eagles performances, canoe races, entertainment, sweat lodge, bingo and fireworks over Passamaquoddy Bay.